Men's tennis has found success early this season with the doubles team of juniors Chris Stewart and Oliver Charroin.
The reason for the continued success of the tennis program has been due to head coach Lou Belken, a graduate from Carroll College in Waukesha, Wis., who recently began his 20th season this year. Belken is just the 12th coach in ASU history to reach such a milestone.
Belken has taken the Sun Devils to 10 NCAA postseason berths in the past 14 years. He first took over the Sun Devils in August 1982. Before taking the reign, he was head professional at the Scottsdale Racquet Club for nine years.
During his first year with the program, Belken's team recorded an 8-19 record. Within three years, the team made their first appearance in the nation's top 20.
In 1988, Belken took the Devils to the NCAA championships. During that season, ASU had an 18-10 record and was ranked in the nation's top 10 for the first time in a decade. They eventually finished 11th. Also during that season, ASU enjoyed its first win over USC since 1979. In 1990, four of Belken's players won national titles.
One of Belken's best seasons was in 1991 when ASU finished eighth in the country, advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament and finished 21-10 overall.
During the 1995 campaign, Belken produced the first ASU No. 1 ranked player in the country in Sargis Sargsian. Sargsian was also ASU's first ever NCAA champion.
Belken's next big accomplishment was the 200th win of his career, which came during the 1998 season against the Washington Huskies (4-3). He also coached three players to 20 or more overall wins and four players with double-digit dual wins. During that season, Belken scheduled competition against seven top 10 teams. Nineteen of their 22 matches were against nationally ranked teams.
In 1999, Belken received his first Pac-10 Conference Coach of the Year Award and was also named Region VIII Coach of the Year. He also took ASU to their best finish in the Pac-10 with a 5-2 record.
Belken has been able to continue to make the tennis program grow and has established it as one of the top in the nation.
Reach the reporter at katie.crane@asu.edu.
